


cigarettes & fireworks

by sanktaleksandr



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Are you surprised?, Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Romance, Smut, darkolai, if you squint you can see zoyalina too, nikolai pov, they are soft again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28450221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanktaleksandr/pseuds/sanktaleksandr
Summary: Nikolai had had a rough day, hell, a rough year if he was being honest. He was most definitely not the superstitious type of person, but he couldn’t wait for the year to change, in hopes of the next year being better. He might just get his wish.
Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Nikolai Lantsov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	cigarettes & fireworks

Every time Nikolai thought the year couldn’t get any worse, it did just that.

The year had not treated him kindly. Nikolai had been supposed to get a promotion, but it had been delayed because of major cuts in his department. Instead, he had gotten more work for no additional compensation. He had been tempted to resign and find a new job, but due to the economical state of the whole world, the Treasury wasn’t the only place having to do big cuts, so really, he ought to have been grateful to even keep his job. Still, it had made Nikolai’s year considerably harder.

Then there was the case of Nikolai’s family. They had always been somewhat irritable but during the course of the year they had become absolutely insufferable. Vasily had been less fortunate, and lost his job, which had led him to a nasty addiction. When their parents had discovered it, they had coddled him in a way Nikolai knew he would never have been. Vasily losing his job wasn’t his fault according to their parents, but Nikolai not getting his promotion was his fault. Nikolai had always sensed his parents’ favouritism towards Vasily, but the circumstances had made it clearly visible. Truly realizing it had definitely put a damper on Nikolai’s year and bittered his relationship with his family.

Of course Nikolai’s year hadn’t been all misery. His friends were great for one. But with all the extra time he’d had to put into his work, he hadn’t been able to see them as often as he’d liked. And great friends couldn’t entirely make up for his sorry family.

Then there was the state of his romantic life, or rather the lack of it. Nikolai had to admit that if he barely had time for his friends, any acquaintance of the romantic kind would surely have been doomed. Nevertheless, a sprinkle of romance could have brightened up some of Nikolai’s days, but alas, no such things had been happening during the past year.

And now it was New Year’s Eve.

Nikolai had had absolutely zero expectations, but somehow he had still managed to get disappointed. To his benefit his day had been, in the absence of a more refined expression, utterly shit. What had been supposed to be a relaxing day off had turned into a 10-hour workday when Nikolai’s boss had called him in the morning. _Of course _there was some unfinished last minute business that needed to be finished and nobody else was capable of doing.__

____

On top of his day off being cancelled, it seemed to be the busiest day of the year in Os Alta. Everywhere Nikolai went was completely crammed, which not only had added an extra flavour of making it difficult to get anywhere fast enough, but also caused Nikolai’s lunch order getting mixed up, which wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been with the only dish on the menu Nikolai never ate. In addition, the constant crowds made Nikolai grumpier too.

____

So as Nikolai’s day – and year – were finally coming to an end, he prayed for a fresh start and a better next year. When he got off work he was so miserable that he came close to just calling it a day and retreating to his own home. However, after contemplating it for a while he arrived at the conclusion that he could seriously use blowing off some steam at the party his friends Alina and Zoya were throwing.

____

To get to the party it took him total of 45 minutes in the wretched traffic of New Year’s Eve, and as a cherry on top of Nikolai’s bad day, as soon as he stepped out of the taxi, it started pouring down so heavily that in the twenty-something steps it took him to get inside Alina and Zoya’s apartment building, he got soaking wet. Nikolai had never before felt so defeated in his life but he decided that he had come too far to turn back.

____

Alina and Zoya’s apartment was located at the top floor of their apartment building and it was the most spacious out of all their friends’ apartments, so naturally it had been the obvious location choice for the New Year’s party. When Nikolai got inside he saw it had been very elegantly transformed for the occasion. It was also shot full of people, of whom Nikolai didn’t know even half of – Alina and Zoya had seemingly invited everyone they knew.

____

“Nikolai!” Alina exclaimed when she noticed him arriving. Nikolai gave his best attempt at a winning smile in return. Alina rushed to hug him. “Saints, you’re soaked,” she said while they embraced.

____

“I know, as soon as I stepped out of the cab it started pouring really hard,” Nikolai sighed heavily. “Just my luck.”

____

“Oh no, you poor thing! Well, you’re in our hands now and your luck isn’t a match for us,” Alina assured smiling.

____

“We’ll see about that,” Nikolai muttered.

____

Anyways, welcome to the party, go grab yourself champagne over there!” Alina continued motioning Nikolai to the crowd.

____

As he went over to get a flute of champagne more of his friends greeted him. The combination of the two managed to improve his mood quite a bit already, but he knew he needed something more, and so, after downing the champagne and chitchatting for a while, he excused himself to make his way to the roof of Alina and Zoya’s apartment building, for a much needed smoke.

____

When Nikolai got to the roof it had, of course, stopped raining, but Nikolai barely noted it because his attention was caught by the figure of a stranger he saw leaning against the railing on the roof. The stranger turned briefly to glance at Nikolai when they heard him approaching and although Nikolai was able to barely catch a glimpse of the stranger in the dark, he could already tell they were gorgeous. Once Nikolai reached the railing he settled to a place not too far from the stranger, who gave Nikolai a slight nod and continued to stare down at the city spreading before them, bringing the cigarette in his hand to his lips every now and then. Standing at a closer distance could now clearly see the stranger. He was tall, lean and possibly the most beautiful man Nikolai had ever laid his eyes on. He looked like a vision. The black suit he was wearing was perfectly cut to fit his figure, his masterfully carved face was framed by thick black hair and his pale grey eyes glinted even in the dark.

____

Nikolai pulled his pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his coat, took one out and moved to light it. “Shit,” Nikolai cursed, when despite his numerous tries he didn’t manage to get it lit. He sighed heavily. His bad luck seemed to have gotten the best out of him again, but Nikolai wasn’t going to give up, not yet at least.

____

“Um, excuse me, would you happen to have a working lighter?” Nikolai asked, taking a step closer to the stranger.

____

The stranger turned to look at Nikolai and his breath nearly hitched at the sight. “Sure I do,” the stranger replied in a smooth, dark voice that definitely didn’t make Nikolai’s attraction vanish. He pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit it, extending it to Nikolai. Nikolai leaned in with the cigarette in his mouth and breathed the smoke in deep when he finally got it lit.

____

“Thanks,” Nikolai muttered, again giving his best attempt at a smile. He had a bad feeling it came out more like a grimace instead.

____

“No problem,” the other man replied, giving an amused look, the corners of his mouth turning up ever so slightly.

____

Nikolai turned to look at the view, even though he would have preferred to stare at the beautiful stranger for an eternity. He took another drag, the smoke calming him like nothing else could. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the stranger putting out his finished butt. Nikolai felt a twinge of disappointment at the thought of the other man leaving, but it dissipated when he saw the stranger digging up another cigarette and lighting it.

____

They stood like that for a while, smoking in silence, staring out into the distance. Nikolai was almost finished with his cigarette when he turned to look at the other man. The smoking had managed to take enough edge off his irritation for him to feel like talking.

____

“So what brings you here, if you don’t mind me asking?” Nikolai inquired.

____

The other man turned to look at Nikolai as well, which might have made Nikolai’s breath hitch again. “I was invited to a New Year’s party. How about you?” he replied.

____

“Alina and Zoya’s?”

____

The other man nodded, smiling slightly. The ghost of a smile made him look even more handsome. “Yes.”

____

“As you can probably guess I’m here for that too. How do you know Alina and Zoya? I’m Nikolai by the way,” Nikolai said and offered his hand.

____

The other man shook it. It felt cool in Nikolai’s and sent a light shock through him. “Aleksander. I know Alina and Zoya through work,” he answered. “How about you?”

____

Nikolai drew the last smoke from his cigarette before answering. “We went to the same college.” Nikolai then dumped his cigarette and took out a new one. He held it out. “Would you mind terribly?” he asked.

____

“Not at all,” the stranger, no _Aleksander _chuckled. He pulled out his lighter again, lighting it up for Nikolai.__

______ _ _

Nikolai bent his head down with his cigarette in his mouth. “Ahh, excellent thank you,” he said after getting it lit.

______ _ _

“As I said, no problem. So Nikolai, are you looking forward to the New Year?” Aleksander asked in turn. Hearing Aleksander speak his name made Nikolai feel _things _.__

________ _ _ _ _

Nikolai let out a humourless laugh. “More than you can imagine.”

________ _ _ _ _

“Rough year?” Aleksander questioned raising an elegant eyebrow.

________ _ _ _ _

"Oh yes. Not getting a promotion, but getting the responsibilities that would have come with one, watching my parents coddle my useless brother the way they never would, if it was me in his place, to name a couple of things,” Nikolai said with a sigh. “But I won’t bore you anymore with my hardships. What about you?”

________ _ _ _ _

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” Aleksander responded, frowning. The other man’s sympathy felt comforting to Nikolai. “Well, my year hasn’t been anything special, so I’m quite looking forward to the next year in the hopes of it being even a little bit more unusual,” Aleksander continued, smiling slightly again.

________ _ _ _ _

“It makes two of us then,” Nikolai stated. Nikolai noticed that Aleksander had already finished his cigarette as he drew the last smokes from his, which had to mean that Aleksander had stayed to talk with Nikolai. The thought of it made his heart flutter. “Should we head back to the party?” Nikolai suggested.

________ _ _ _ _

“Yes, let’s do it,” Aleksander agreed. “So Nikolai,” Aleksander began again as they started walking back to the party, “tell me about yourself.”

________ _ _ _ _

They spent the way back chitchatting. Nikolai told Aleksander that he worked at the Treasury, that someday he wanted to run for the Parliament, that if he hadn’t chosen a career as an economist, he would perhaps have liked to try his luck out on the sea and that he was afraid of spiders. Aleksander in return revealed that he worked in the law department but he had a degree in finance as well, that he too had once thought about running for the Parliament and that he had a sweet tooth, which he tried his best to not overindulge.

________ _ _ _ _

When they returned to the party they went straight for the champagne flutes. “To a new year,” Aleksander toasted.

________ _ _ _ _

“To a new year,” Nikolai repeated, clinking his glass against Aleksander’s.

________ _ _ _ _

They spent a good part of the evening conversing just the two of them. Their conversation was easy, yet interesting, filled with laughs. They also found they shared a lot of opinions, but on the matters they didn’t they could muster up an intense debate. However, at some point, they got separated. Nikolai couldn’t remember why – most likely one of his or Aleksander’s friends had tugged them away – but he caught himself constantly searching for the mesmerizing other man. Nikolai prayed that his bad luck was turning, even if it wasn’t the new year quite yet.

________ _ _ _ _

Just a little bit before midnight Aleksander managed to find his way back to Nikolai. He appeared so suddenly that it felt like he had materialised from the shadows. “Hey,” he whispered softly into Nikolai’s ear, warm breath tickling against Nikolai’s skin, “would you like to go up for a smoke?” Nikolai could only nod in response.

________ _ _ _ _

No one else was on the roof yet when they got there. Aleksander patted around his pockets. “Fuck,” he muttered, “it seems that I’m all out of cigarettes, do you mind sharing?”

________ _ _ _ _

“Not at all,” Nikolai replied, pulling out his pack. Aleksander had the lighter all ready. Nikolai drew the first smoke before passing the cigarette to Aleksander. As he passed it onto the other man, their fingers brushed against each other, which again sent a jolt through Nikolai.

________ _ _ _ _

They smoked in silence for a while, just the two of them. Nikolai tried hard to shift his glance to the city before them every once in a while but found it nearly impossible, with Aleksander standing before him looking illegally gorgeous. The silence didn’t last too long, since it was nearing midnight, people started coming up to the roof to see the fireworks. They only had time to share one cigarette before the countdown began.

________ _ _ _ _

“Five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!” the crowd chanted. The fireworks went off in the distance and the crowd cheered.

________ _ _ _ _

Nikolai suddenly felt an arm wrap around his waist. “Happy New Year, Nikolai,” Aleksander breathed and pressed his lips to Nikolai’s.

________ _ _ _ _

Nikolai was so surprised he froze at first, but he quickly came to his senses and kissed Aleksander back, wrapping his own arms around the other man. When Aleksander soon pulled apart – too soon Nikolai thought – Nikolai couldn’t help but let out a relieved laugh. “I hope this means my luck is finally turning,” he said.

________ _ _ _ _

Aleksander smiled back at Nikolai. “I’m glad you think that way,” he said and kissed Nikolai again. Nikolai felt Aleksander’s other hand tangle in his hair. They continued kissing for a while, their kisses deepening and growing more passionate.

________ _ _ _ _

After some time they pulled apart again. “What do you say, should we get out of here?” Aleksander asked a bit breathlessly.

________ _ _ _ _

“Yes,” was all Nikolai managed to gasp.

________ _ _ _ _

The next few moments were a blur. Nikolai remembered vaguely holding Aleksander’s hand as they waited for a cab and making out with him in the backseat. They could hardly keep their hands off of each other the whole way, but promptly they were at what he assumed to be Aleksander’s flat.

________ _ _ _ _

Once they were inside, it seemed like they couldn’t get each other’s clothes off quickly enough. They left a trail of clothes on their way to the bedroom. Aleksander shoved Nikolai against the door, attacking his throat, kissing and sucking, hands roaming wildly around his body. Nikolai groaned in response grasping Aleksander against him with one hand and searching for the door handle with the other, pushing the door open once he found it. They stumbled in.

________ _ _ _ _

Aleksander’s lips found Nikolai’s again as he got to work to remove the rest of Nikolai’s clothes. When he was done he shoved Nikolai again, this time on to the bed. He stopped to remove his own clothing before joining Nikolai on the bed. “You look so pretty like that, all bare and waiting for me,” he murmured. Nikolai just let out a breathless moan in response to Aleksander’s words, he himself too busy drinking in the sight of undressing Aleksander, admiring each new piece of exposed skin.

________ _ _ _ _

Once Aleksander joined Nikolai on the bed they were a flurry of clawing hands, open mouths and nipping teeth, both desperate to taste each other all at once. It didn’t take long before Aleksander had Nikolai on all fours before him, moaning and panting as he was pushing his slicked up fingers inside Nikolai’s ass and stroking his cock with his other hand. And it didn’t take long before Nikolai bit out “Fuck me already Aleksander,” making Aleksander nearly come just from that. Aleksander then pulled Nikolai to sit up against him, replacing his fingers with his cock, both crying out in pleasure.

________ _ _ _ _

As they settled into a rhythm, Aleksander’s lips ascended onto Nikolai’s neck and his hands travelled around his body, and Nikolai was doing his best to return the favours. After sometime, however, Aleksander started picking up the pace, thrusting into Nikolai harder and harder, while his other hand once again found Nikolai’s cock, making him moan his name loudly. Nikolai rested his head on Aleksander’s shoulder as he felt himself nearing the peak, unable to do anything else, his mind nearly whiting out with the pleasure. Aleksander then grabbed Nikolai’s chin in his hand and captured the other man’s lips with his own, thrusting hard. That’s what finally made Nikolai tip over the edge. He groaned as he came, clenching around Aleksander’s cock, pulling the other man with him.

________ _ _ _ _

They only managed to pull apart and give each other a few soft kisses before sleep took over them.

________ _ _ _ _

When they woke up next morning, a promise of more lingered in the air. “I can’t believe you’re real. I have a feeling this year will be magnificent,” Nikolai mused, gazing into Aleksander’s quartz eyes that glimmered beautifully in the pale morning light.

________ _ _ _ _

“I have the same feeling,” Aleksander hummed in response, smiling as he leaned in to kiss Nikolai once more.

________ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year's Eve everyone! ❤️
> 
> Closing the year with some darkolai, I hope you enjoyed. I think we all can agree with Nikolai that the past year hasn't been the best. Here's to a better 2021!
> 
> Comments & feedback are welcome as always.


End file.
